Good questions and points you bring up...thanks for the education! I'll catch up with him next time I see him to find out some more details. I agree the deck looks pretty good from a distance; I haven't been up close on it to see the finish work. I did see it as a skeleton and it looks well built.

Even at the new price, they are well well ahead of what the builder offered -- about 10' x 10' all pressure-treated for $8K.

I say neither has any conscious. The HO knew they were getting a steal. The builder realized he underestimated and tried to get the HO to pay for his inexperience. I am actually on the builder's side. Been there. Eating the cost did not help my business, nor win the HO's loyalty.
This builder probably will not last long in his business unless he learns to ask.

I say neither has any conscious. The HO knew they were getting a steal. The builder realized he underestimated and tried to get the HO to pay for his inexperience. I am actually on the builder's side. Been there. Eating the cost did not help my business, nor win the HO's loyalty.
This builder probably will not last long in his business unless he learns to ask.

Always communicate with either the contractor or the home owner if your the contractor. I always talked with the HO if there is a problem that will increase cost. Failure to do that makes one a hack! and to put all the risk on the home owner with T&M makes one a hack. If you don't know how many man hours it will take to do the job and how much the materials will cost, and to do a T&M because of it shows the ineptness of the contractor.